Unrelenting
by 2-shadows
Summary: Slade is almost as determined to kidnap Raven as Beast Boy is to keep her safe and help her recover from the first attack.
1. Finding Her

_**This is the first Teen Titans fanfiction I've written, but I can assure you it won't be the last.**_

_**Fanfiction, according to one Urban Dictionary result, is "A piece of fiction within a fandom utilizing characters and situations from a pre-existing work including (but not limited to) books, television programs, films, and comic strips."**_

_**Since by definition this is utilizing characters from pre-existing work, it clearly doesn't belong to me. Let's all thank DC for that, because if I did you can bet the cartoon would be in season 7892830.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

Unrelenting

_Finding_

"What do you mean, she isn't here!" The young man yelled, gripping a handful of his tormentor's outfit and twisting it, pushing the dark man against the metal wall. "What did you DO with her?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the man chuckled evilly, his tone betraying the grin his mask hid. The young man slammed the villain's body into the wall, slamming his head back, too infuriated to be surprised at his own strength.

"Tell me what you did with her, where she is, and I'll be too distracted to hurt you," The young hero said, his voice low and full of threatening malice "But if you don't tell me soon, I'll lose control and all my team will find when they arrive-which will be shortly, you can trust- is a pile of your body parts, sans head. That'll I'll take home. And then I'll search until I find her." In the back of his mind, the Titan was beginning to be restricted by the pure fear coursing through his veins. That was soon pushed aside by the gratifying, if revolting, scent of fear also coming off of the scum of the earth he held in his hands-as well as a little shock at his own vocabulary.

"She's at the docks. I gave her to Professor Chang for experimentation." The older man said, going limp in the hands of the green eyed Teen Titan.

Without another word, and nearly before Slade could register what had happened, Beast Boy took off in the form of a peregrine falcon, flying out the hole in the roof he had formed on his way into the building.

It took little effort for the falcon to leave through where a T-Rex had entered.

* * *

Beast Boy flew at speeds he was sure Guinness would have appreciated, all the while trying to calm himself to the point of rational thinking._ Get ahold of yourself, dude. She's not dead. She's probably not even hurt. She's RAVEN, for Christ's sake. Her natural defenses will keep her safe, if only until you get there._

"Then I'd better get there soon." He whispered between dropping out of the sky in human form and becoming a jaguar on the ground in a running landing.

The jaguar prowled around the poorly lit building, seeing only a steel door and a sign proclaiming "Chang Industries: Only the best for the absolute worst!" in peeling paint. As he got closer though, the green jaguar noticed that the lock on the door was enormous. He quickly changed into a fuit fly and flew under the door, then scurried his way along the corridors as a rat. He wouldn't be caught; in the dark, a green rat is hardly distinguishable, especially when there are four others of his kind within 20 feet of him.

The changeling was able to find the main laboratories easily, but upon opening the door (ramming through it, actually) nearly lost his lunch.

"…Raven?

There, in the middle of the room, was Raven, laid out as though for surgery, IVs and tubes running into her left arm, albeit without the decent covering granted to patients in a REAL hospital. The sight of the pale young woman in nothing but… her _birthday suit_ stirred twin emotions of desire- to protect her, although a small and ashamed portion of the teen hoped to remember a certain aspect of the vision before him- and fury-for taking her, _disrobing_ her, and hurting her. The young man saw red before taking a few deep breaths. He could sense The Beast ready to burst out, and given Raven's current state, that wouldn't be the most productive change.  
"Stay cool, dude. Stay cool," Beast Boy ordered himself, tiptoeing forward. He gingerly approached the table Raven lay on, taking great care to only look at the IV or at her face. He read the medicines they were pumping into her.

Apparently, Chang was working with someone as medically uneducated as Beast Boy- a concept that in and of itself should have struck hearts into people far and wide- so the bags were labeled "sleepy stuff" and " DO NOT UNHOOK".

He promptly unhooked them both.

Raven shot straight up, eyes wide and hands encased in black energy. She was speaking low and fast, in a language that didn't sound anything like English to Beast Boy. Things-vials, tubes, lights, a wall- exploded around them, and the young man quickly shielded her. As suddenly as she had come to life, she faded, although not back into slumber. He grabbed her in his arms, gripping her with fear. He morphed into a gorilla, only to hear alarms start to go off.

"Shit" He hissed after returning human. He looked down at the alabaster beauty in his arms. "Rae, I know you're out of it, but do you think you could teleport us home?"

She merely looked up at him, perplexed.

"You know, the giant T? I'd really like to get out of here without losing you" _Again_, he added in his head.

She nodded, then her eyes began to glow darkly, and Beast Boy heard angry voices for a split second before the dark energy surrounded them.

* * *

Once he felt the air stop crackling around him, the green young man hit the ground running-literally. Still gripping an unclothed Raven closely, afraid to let her go, Beast Boy dashed to the infirmary and laid her gently on one of the beds.

"Aw, man, why didn't I have Cy teach me how to do this stuff?" he whined, nervously looking around at everything. He looked at the young woman, scared to see her limp despite her eyes being open.

"Beast Boy?" His back had been to her as he hopelessly scoured the medicine shelf, but he was by her side in a split second.

"Yeah, Rae? How are you feeling? Do you want anything?" he asked, relief flooding him at the fact that she could TALK.

"I'm cold" was all she said, and he could have slapped himself. He took off in the form of a cheetah, running first to the only closet he knew of, the snatching a huge pile of bedding with his teeth. The cat looked down-up, actually- at the massive stack. _No way can I carry all that like this_. He stood in human form, scratching his head, then changed into a gorilla, picking up the blankets and pillows with ease.

He rushed back the infirmary, then changed into human form to awkwardly drape the first of multiple blankets over Raven's limp shape.

"Rae?" He whispered; relief coursed through him when she opened her eyes. She didn't speak though, so he continued "I got some blankets, and uh, pillows for you, but I don't know.. Uhm, do you want to get up so I can put one on the bed table thingie too? It's metal so I'll bet it's cold," Beast Boy winced, "and do you have any pajamas or anything? 'Cause, well…" The pale girl slowly swung herself off of the bed, gripping the blanket he'd already given her rather loosely. _If you look now, you'll hate yourself, dude._ She shook her head a tiny bit at his question.

She looked up at him, a question in her violet eyes. He didn't even need her empathy powers to understand what she wanted. He explained as he set up sheets to make her bed more comfortable.

"The others are hunting down Slade. You know how Robin is; it'll probably be hours before they're home." He forced himself not to look at her poorly covered frame, especially since in the better light he could see bruises from the IV, as well as what looked like handprints on her arms. "Want some tea, Rae?" She looked up at him, some of the dejection gone from her eyes. "I'll get you some. A little honey in it, too?" The corners of her mouth lifted just enough so that she wasn't frowning, and she looked at him gratefully. "Well, your bed's all ready!" He said, spinning and racing out of the room again, only in human form this time.

* * *

He went to the kitchen and set up Raven's tea kettle. _I don't think I even want them to find Slade. I was so close to losing control already…_

He left the kettle to boil and went to Starfire's room, trying to find pajamas for Raven. He looked in her closet, seeing only pink night gowns behind the purple uniforms. _C'mon, you've gotta have something darker, Star! _Beast Boy saw a small corner of black sticking out and grabbed it. "Aha!" he muttered, pulling it out.

If he wasn't already green, he'd have turned it. _Never mind. I like being alive. _ He carefully put the lingerie back and swiftly left the room, hoping to lose the mental image of Star pouncing Robin while wearing… THAT.

He decided that since Robin was ALWAYS in uniform and Cy didn't need one, he'd better seach his own closet. "Shit" _Do I have anything that'd work?_

To calm his growing nerves, he imagined what Raven and Cyborg would say to each item he picked.

An old, stained tee shirt? _Cy would say he's used it to polish his "Baby" and Raven would tell me if I dressed her in a snot rag she'd be sure to burn it. _He grimaced and continued looking.

A track suit? _Cy would ask if something died near it and Raven would just blow it up._ He sniffed the track suit. _Cy might be right._

Beast Boy dug into the drawers of a dresser that hadn't been used since Robin bribed him with Mega Monkey Speed Demon VI to organize his room. In the bottom drawer, under an mP3 player he'd forgotten he owned and one of his favorite comics from when he was 12, was a folded pair of dark blue pajamas with green monkeys all over it. He vaguely recalled that it was meant to be a kind gift from Starfire for his 14th birthday but had been the source of teasing from Cyborg AND Robin the two times he'd worn the set to breakfast. He hadn't worn them since, but they smelled and looked clean.

At 17 and past his growth spurt, he was almost a foot too tall for the pajamas, but Raven would probably fit them just perfectly.

_Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeet. _The water had boiled.

"Oh well" he muttered, gripping the outfit in his arms. "No time to find anything else."

He quickly grabbed a tea bag from the box that said "Raven's. DO NOT TOUCH" and threw it in the steaming water. He let it steep while he searched for the honey, then poured honey in until it smelled close to the way Raven liked her tea.

"Rae? I got the tea!" He called, walking slowly to avoid spills. When he got to the infirmary, he called "Raven? I got some PJs and tea for you." He looked down at the girl, who was staring blankly at the wall across from her. "I'll give you some privacy to, you know, get dressed." He hoped she couldn't see the blush starting to dust his cheeks.

He started to walk out the door until he heard a coarse "WAIT!"

"Stay, please," She whispered, already shrugging the shirt over her stomach. Beast Boy gave a silent sigh of relief to see her covered, though not entirely minding that the shirt was tight in areas a 14 year old version of him WOULDN'T have had issues in. Raven then pulled the pants under her covers to pull them on. He handed her the tea he was still holding after she reclined back into the stack of pillows he'd set up.

"Do you want to talk?" He asked nervously, hand scratching his neck. She looked thoughtful for a second then shook her head slowly. "Ok, want me to talk?" A slight movement of her lips was all the answer he needed.

"Alright, I'm going to tell you a story…"

* * *

_**Sorry, felt like a good place to end it. I've got the next chapter in mind already, but I'm not going to predict how many chapters this will end up with since my writing tends to pull a Plasmus (it doesn't cooperate, and once awoken it wreaks havoc until somebody knocks it out again). **_

_**2-Shadows**_


	2. Chasing Away The Nightmares

_**Alright, so first I want to apologize for taking so LONG! I had no idea life was going to get so hectic. Then, when it calmed down, I had the WORSE case of writer's block ever. I had to patch two different versions of this chapter to end up with the final product I'm still not happy with. But I figured you guys have waited long enough. **_

_**Here you go! (They aren't mine, obviously, although I do enjoy messing around with them just like the Puppet King did!)**_

_**Enjoy!**_

* * *

** Chasing Away The Nightmares**

"Ok, so one day there was this dude. And he was trying to make breakfast more exciting because he wasn't much of a morning person. So, he's messin' around in the lab, right? And he manages to bring some waffles to life! And at first he's totally excited because hey, walking waffles!

"But he had no idea that his delicious creatures could turn evil! The waffles started getting really smart and super dangerous. They formed waffles packs and started attacking people. It was wafflepocalypse! And people tried to fight back. They'd attack the waffles with knives, and the waffle people bled syrup blood and DUDE it was scary but even when they were cut into pieces they could fight! Eventually, the world was so overrun with waffles that nobody lived happily ever after.

"And that's why I only eat tofu waffles."

Raven looked up at Beast Boy blankly, holding her empty tea cup in her hand. She yawned quietly, then returned her focus to her green companion. He could just barely detect a pleading in her dark eyes.

"Want me to stay in here with you?" He asked. She winced slightly, the only sort of remorse he'd ever seen her show, but nodded. He smiled hugely at her, hoping to convey that he was fine with that.

_For all you know man, she's thinking you had bad tofu for lunch._

The young man sat down on the opposite side of the infirmary on a cold bench, nervously gripping the underside of the bench with his gloved hands. Raven bit her lip and patted the empty space on her makeshift bed, indicating for him to sit. His head swum as he went to sit with her and tried to avoid letting certain thoughts enter his head. He was here to protect her and be her friend. He leaned against the massive stack of pillows, sitting on top of the blanket, looking down at her, wishing he could hold her. She'd kill him for it though, and she had every right to. She was his friend, teammate… Anything else would have to wait until-

Beast Boy's train of thought derailed completely when Raven nudged him and motioned for him to get under the covers with her. He blushed a deep purple, trying to stutter out a protest.

"Isn't that.. I mean, together? Don't you.."

"You'll be warmer." She said, face blank- a good blank though, the blank he was used to, not the scared one that reminded him of a newly orphaned kitten.

"I'm Beast Boy, I'm always warm." He lied through his teeth. Instead of a derisive snort or similar response, her face fell.

"I'd be warmer." She whispered at the ground. He was suddenly reminded of the occurrence in her head all those years ago; she was being timid now as she had been in the maze then.

He crawled under the heavy blanket, careful to pull it tight. They lay side by side without touching one another. "Good night, Rae" echoed through the small, dark infirmary.

Within moments the beautiful half-demon was asleep. Her companion watched over her for about ten minutes before falling asleep himself.

As the night passed, Raven turned in her sleep, lying mostly on her side with her back to Beast Boy. True to his word, he stayed by her side, jumping awake anytime she so much as stirred. Given her subconscious restlessness, he didn't get much sleep of his own. Not that he would have complained… much… aloud.

The latest of these instances was around 4 AM. Raven spoke his name, waking him up in less than a heartbeat.

"Yeah, Rae? Everything okay?" he asked, still not touching her, even to see if she was awake.

_How can I tell if she's awake?... Stupid, you have night vision!_

He looked closer and saw that her eyelids were pinched tightly shut and her fists balled up, clenching the blankets. He hesitated for a moment, arguing it out in his head.

_If I touch her, she'll kill me!_

_But if I don't make sure she sleeps well, Robin or Starfire or Cy will torture me._

The mental image of Cyborg holding some sort of giant metal object with flames spurting out one side and spinning blades on the other made up Beast Boy's mind.

The green young man took a deep breath and gently turned Raven towards him, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her flush to him.

_Dude, this would be worth being killed a million times over even without Cy trying to slice, dice and flambé me._

Raven stirred again, limbs pulling tightly in; her hands balled into fists again, grabbing the fabric of his uniform instead of the blanket. For the first and last time, Beast Boy was grateful not to have any chest hair; Raven's iron grip would have ripped it out for sure.  
"It'd still be nice to look all manly and stuff" He muttered aloud before resting his cheek on Raven's head and falling soundly asleep.

* * *

When Beast Boy next awoke, it was easily 6 or 7 in the morning. Sunlight was streaming in through the one window high on the wall. He realized he was still wrapped around Raven, although now she was using his chest as a pillow, her arms were wrapped around his torso, and one of her lithe legs was wrapped around his knee. He smiled hugely, feeling quite successful, even if she hadn't made the choice to snuggle consciously.

Then he realized something and was _incredibly_ glad Raven wasn't awake.

Unfortunately, Raven was so entwined with most of his limbs that getting up meant waking her; he'd have to just wait it out and pray she stayed asleep.

_Shit shit shit shit… Ok man, calm down, it's natural and it will go away soon. Just calm down and hope she doesn't wake up…_

Despite his embarrassment at that situation, Beast Boy was able to fall back asleep in the quiet of the room, Raven's rhythmic breathing acting as a sort of lullaby.

* * *

"Beast Boy?" A soft voice woke him. He forced his eyes open and saw Starfire floating next to him. He was immediately alert.

"What did you guys find out last night?" He asked, feeling slightly nauseous in the pit of his stomach. _Did you get Slade? What about Chang? What were they trying to do, anyways?_

"It would be better if you came to the meeting room," called out a voice over the intercom.

"Right away," Beast Boy responded, reaching down to pull Raven's limbs separate from his own. She woke only as he got out of the bed though, presumably from the blast of cold air that hit her.

"What time is it?" The still half-asleep girl asked, sitting up to reveal the green monkey pajamas she was wearing to at least Starfire and Robin. Beast Boy heard the barest hint of a giggle come from the floating Tamaranean before she answered the darker girl's question

"It is nearly noon, Raven" Starfire lilted, moving towards the bed to give Raven a tender embrace. "I am glad you are well." Beast Boy was too hung up on the time to notice how calm Raven was about being hugged.

_Noon? How the hell did I sleep until noon!_

A yawn came from the bed and Beast Boy felt his face flush despite himself.

_Oh, right._

Another voice came over the intercom, "Look, guys, as cute as this is, we need to do the debriefing now. A cyborg's gotta eat!" There was a pause filled with static, then "Damn, I'm glad you're home, Rae."

"Yes, as am I. But please come, Beast Boy. I am most famished, and Robin said no breakfast until the debriefing is over." As if in reply, the changeling's stomach growled loudly.

"What about me?" Raven implored, violet eyes wide. Beast Boy hadn't seen her _this_ vulnerable since Trigon had taken her powers and turned her into an 8 year old.

"You should come too, Raven. You might have valuable insight about what exactly happened." Robin said, opening the door. He walked in, hands behind his back. Cyborg followed him in but ran straight to the makeshift bed, a bigger grin on his face than any of them had seen in years.

"Ready, Rae?" He asked, his gruff voice holding more than a hint of emotion. She smiled at him and nodded; Cyborg scooped her and her blankets into his metallic arms, beginning an enthusiastic (but mostly one sided) conversation about sausage versus bacon.

Robin merely ushered Starfire out, then turned and watched Beast Boy until he followed.

It was actions like those that made the green boy's blood boil. _She's missing for two days, kidnapped by your worst enemy and I find her and bring her home, and this is the recognition of it all? A glare and no breakfast!_ Beast Boy took a deep breath._  
Not right now, dude. Worry about your stupid irritation later… Then take it out on Change. _A small, sad smile grew on the young man's face at the attractively violent prospect, and he followed the masked man out the door to the meeting room.

* * *

_**Phew! **_

_**Now review, because constructive criticism and shameless flattery are the things that help me write... Or rather, makes me feel guilty I haven't yet written. But still!**_


	3. Retelling

_**Look! Shadows updated! It still took her for-effin-ever!**_

_**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, begging me to update. Unfortunately, I've had killer writer's block for a while so my work is coming along a paragraph at a time instead of pages at a time like usual. I wanted there to be more to this, but I figure you wouldn't mind a shorter chapter now if it means you get a chapter now and more epicness later. **_

_**I live in Cowtown; it's a far cry from anywhere I'd move if I had the money from owning the genius I am bending to my own will. So clearly, I do not own Teen Titans or any of the other characters you recognize. **_

_**Enjoy!**_

**Retelling**

The Teen Titans gathered in the common room, Beast Boy the last to enter. He took the room in, feeling inexplicably reminiscent. It wasn't an appropriate time for the flood of memories, of course; perhaps he could reflect on Mega Monkey battles with Cyborg and being chucked out the window by Raven when the latter wasn't lying shivering on the couch.

The changeling felt his stomach rise into his throat and had to swallow back bile when he saw bruises across Raven's face- the only piece of skin not wrapped tightly in the blanket Cy had picked her up in- that had darkened since he retrieved her the night before.

_Retrieved... Man, that makes me sound like some sort of pet or hunting dog or something. Go fetch the pretty girl, Beast Boy!_

The purple clad hero shook his head, trying to dispel the bitterness welling up inside him. _Raven is SAFE. You SAVED her before something worse could happen, BB! Chill, dude. Breathe._

Robin's voice broke his focus on those unusually vicious thoughts. "Would you like to give your report, Beast Boy?"

He merely nodded; he didn't have the energy to wax clever as he normally did. "We had a hunch Slade was somehow involved. I tracked him down and broke into his hideout. I guess you could say I dropped in," They had to have seen how he busted the roof; it was supposed to be humorous. No matter, it didn't receive so much as a raised eyebrow, even from Star, who had been enjoying puns as of late. _I am way too tired to be a smart ass right now. I don't even make sense to me! _"I got the information out of him pretty easily; told me he'd given Rae-" Beast Boy had to stop to take a deep breath and felt himself shudder as he did so. "- Told me he'd given Rae to Chang for experimentation. I broke in and grabbed her. I guess she got a big rush of power from me unplugging the sedatives he was pumping her with because she was able to teleport us back here. " Suddenly, doubt filled the youngest of the Titans.

The same powerful intuition must have been trained into them all by the Boy Wonder, because Starfire and Cyborg both said "Something doesn't feel right about this."

A superhero though she was, Starfire couldn't resist shrieking "Jinx!"

When Robin and Cyborg both visibly stiffened-although Beast Boy couldn't help but speculate Cyborg's reason for being startled was a bit more personal, especially now that the pink-haired villainess was rumored to be with Kid Flash- Starfire let out a squeaky apology, "I am so sorry, I merely meant the 'jinx' when one says something at the same time as a conversational partner!" Beast Boy grinned at this; he'd explained the game to her only a month ago. Star blushed, "Cyborg, you may speak, of course."

"Thanks, Star, appreciate it," Cyborg muttered dryly, though not before blushing on the human side of his face.

A large part of Beast Boy felt better when he saw a small quirk of the lips on both Robin and Raven. He walked near the couch and sat down on the ground, resting his head on Raven's knees. He felt remarkably contented despite the gnawing in his stomach. Robin spoke up, turning to the eldest "Cyborg, would you like to tell Beast Boy what we saw when we got to Slade?"

"No, but I'll do it anyways. You tend to start rambling and get all crazy when Slade's involved."

"I do n-" Robin began, but was interrupted by a chorus of "Yes, you do!"s from all 4 of the others.

As Robin muttered to himself-_Why does he still deny it? Dude started attacking himself one time!-_Cyborg turned to the two at the couch. "We got to Slade's place probably an hour after you. All the stuff was cleared out, but there were a few tell-tales that let us know he'd been there recently."

"Namely some spare Sladebot parts and a destroyed pair of what looked like an attempt at making laser gloves."

_Laser gloves? Wow, I'm glad those weren't working when I attacked him. I'd never have…_

Beast Boy looked up at Raven and saw that she was looking at him also. He felt heat rush to his face and quickly looked back at Cyborg, who looked mildly amused for some reason.

"We got your... remarkably concise message and went to Chang's place." Robin interjected, a furrow in his brow.

"Yep. He was freaking out and hadn't left yet, so we took his goons out and then took him in." Cyborg finished, then looked at his surrogate sister with a fierce protectiveness, saying "You don't have to worry about that creep anymore. We picked out his prison guards ourselves. He couldn't get out if he wanted to."

Beast Boy noted Raven's left hand, which had been pulled out of the blankets and was resting against the back of the couch, quickly move over to the coffee table behind the couch and tap on it lightly. He felt a small pit in his stomach but quickly turned his eyes back to the center of the room.

Robin was nodding his agreement to Cyborg's statement. "But now we need to find out why Slade wants her," he said. He turned his attention to Raven and raised an eyebrow, moving his mask "Is there any possibility he's still working for Trigon?" Beast Boy turned to look at Raven. She furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

"There's a spell on Azarath, something that forces servants to continue their work even if their master changes dimensions. The spell isn't used often because it takes an immense amount of power, and it lasts until the servant died." Raven said, eyes taking on a hard sheen, as though she was trying not to be overwhelmed with bitter hatred.

_No surprise. I'm pretty sure I'd hate my dad too, if he was like Trigon._

"This is very bad" Starfire said, dropping down to stand with Robin. He grasped her hand without throwing her even a sideways glance, but Beast Boy noticed he squeezed her hand as though grateful she was with him. He looked back up at the object of his own affections and tried to send thoughts to her via brain waves.

_Rae? Raven, can you hear me?_

He shook his head a small amount, feeling idiotic. _Yes, Garfield, that's exactly how it works. You talk straight into her brain just because you try to. _

"Is there anything we can do?" Beast Boy asked, directing the question to Raven but exchanging a worried glance with Cyborg. She pursed her lips and looked at the team, her violet eyes meeting his green ones. He saw deep within her at that moment, as if he could see her soul, brilliant and subdued and fearful and hopeful all at once. Then he felt as if a barrier had been put up and the light in her eyes dulled. She then broke the eye contact to look at the rest of the team.

Beast Boy blinked, suddenly dizzy, realizing Raven was answering his question "- going to go through my books to see if I can find anything helpful."

_Crap! What did I miss? How did I zone out just looking at her eyes?_

"Let me help you with that!" he demanded, then upon seeing the tightness at the corners of her mouth and the tiny tilt downwards of her eyebrows, realized she was starting to look alive and mildly frustrated. He meekly added a small "Please?" Raven's eyes widened a minuscule amount, tantamount to anyone else stepping backwards in fear and rejection of such a proposal.

"Might be a good idea to have someone with you at any given time, Raven. We don't know if Slade is under that special spell, or anything like it, so we need to make sure you're protected." Robin said. The dark haired girl tilted her head in a nod of agreement, her violet locks swaying lightly.

"First shift!" Cyborg called raising one hand and batting Beast Boy's volunteering hand out of the air then covering the green boy's mouth with the other.

_What the hell, dude? _The changeling wondered, slightly hurt. Cyborg knew better than anybody else on the team that he needed to protect Raven. "Second?" He asked.

Upon hearing Starfire interject "I would much like to have the second turn guarding Raven", Beast Boy turned quickly to look at Robin. If Starfire was asking for something, he wasn't going to get it.

"No, Robin, please…" _Holy shit, I sound desperate_, Beast Boy realized, grimacing.

The Titans' leader looked at his team; his mouth tight in a grim line, his hand still entwined with Starfire's, the young man assessed the situation. Beast Boy could practically hear the gears in Robin's head turning and felt slightly nauseous when he heard, "Beast Boy…"

"No man, look, I need to have a turn protecting Raven, helping her out with the research, anything. If she gets taken again, I don't know what I'm going to do with myself." He snapped, standing up to face the leader. They'd grown in the past years, and although Robin was now far larger than he'd been when the team formed, so was Beast Boy. The green teen walked to stand in front of his leader, finding it difficult to stop talking now that he'd started- not that that was out of the ordinary. He lowered his voice to remain calm-blowing up at the Boy Wonder would get him nowhere. "I get it. You know the most about Slade and we all want to protect Raven. Obviously; we're a family, we want to stay safe and together. But I need to know she's okay, more than I need anything else." He was now face to face with the only complete human on the team, and Beast Boy realized just how much more bulk he had compared to Robin.

His voiced lowered to a whisper, giving the illusion that he didn't care to share what he was about to say with anyone except Robin, despite knowing that every other teammate could hear him just fine. "I need to know that she's not going to be taken away from us again. You saved her from HELL, man, literally! Just let me save her from this."

"As much as I want to say yes or no, it isn't my decision." At this, the masked young man held his non-occupied green glove out towards the pale girl sitting wide eyed on the couch. "Raven, what do you want us to do?" It took all of the self control Raven insisted Beast Boy didn't have to keep still and quiet while Raven mused silently on the question presented to her.

There was a reason Raven berated Beast Boy so often about self control, though; it wasn't his strong suit. After less than 10 seconds, the changeling could feel the pain mounting in his upper lip from where his protruding fang was gnawing tensely out of stress from the agonizing wait.

"I think I do want Cyborg and Star to take shifts guarding-" Here, his stomach dropped and he felt betrayed enough to punch something, until he realized Raven wasn't finished "-but if Beast Boy wants to sit for hours on end trying to read through musty books with me, I'm alright with that too." Here, she looked at him, her usual emotionless expression back, replacing the wide-eyed terror she'd had before. "But no food anywhere near them, and I want to see you wash your hands with the strongest skin-safe disinfectant in the tower." Beast Boy felt his grin grow on his face, even as she finished with a dry "Twice." He nodded enthusiastically.

"Might as well get started?" Cyborg suggested, typing something into the keypad on his left arm. The rest of the team nodded, though some more energetically than others. "Alright, y'all. Here's how it's gonna go down. Star, you're going to help Robin dig up the Slade files while BB and Rae…" Here, Beast Boy noticed the tightness of Raven's thin lips increase, the slightest grimace giving away her displeasure at the nickname. Perhaps more comical was Robin's utter confusion; the caped young man was openly gaping at Cyborg's decision to divvy up the responsibilities himself instead of letting Robin do it. _Oops, Cy is talking. I should probably be paying attention._ "And Star and I will switch in 2 hours." _Crap. Oh well, at least I'm going to be able to keep an eye on Raven… I think… _That WAS what Cy had assigned him, right?

_I'll just stick with Rae. If she yells at me to go do something, it probably means I wasn't supposed to work with her. Probably._

_I wonder if she'd like to hear some new jokes?_

_**I wanted to write more for this chapter, but it kept flaring out weird ways, so you'll just have to wait. Sorry it's short, but this way you get more emails saying I wrote! Yay! Overall I'm thinking there will probably be more than 10 chapters because we're already three in and barely started.**_

_**See you again soon! **_

_**2_shadows**_


	4. Hypothesis

_**So, this one is twice as long as the other ones, to make up for the fact that I didn't even start it until after I wrote Goldfish. (Total BBRae fluff, if you want that, by the way, check it out when you're done with this.) **_

_**It didn't get subjected to the normal twice over for errors, so if you see any, shoot me a PM to let me know so I can fix it. **_

_**I wrote a little shameless fluff into this chapter, just for those of us who are STARVING for it, but there's also some intense sadness and Raven acting a little nuts. **_

_**Just two more things: One, THANK YOU to everyone who reviewed because I LOVE REVIEWS, they make my heart sing and I work extra hard to get the next chapter out more quickly. And TWO, any fanart you want to draw and share would be mentioned in these long author's notes because that just makes my heart soar to think of and I love you and want to give you virtual cookies. If you know me in real life and you're reading this, you still only get virtual cookies.**_

_**I've got to pack my Costco backpack with my Walmart clothes to go on a tour of a few state universities, so do you really think I own Teen Titans? Really?**_

_**On that note, here's your chapter.**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**(A/N 7/22/2012 I'm going through and fixing stuff because not making sure I edit thoroughly results in a less than happy Shadows. So, if you get another update notification, sorry, but I NEED to make this better.)**_

**Hypothesis**

"So, uh, Rae, what's the plan?" Beast Boy turned to the dark girl, whom he noticed was still in the pajamas he'd given her the night previous. He also noticed she'd had to roll the sleeves up at the wrists, leaving it cuffed halfway up her forearm. He was fascinated by that for a moment, having never seen her wrists before,_ Can wrists be considered cute?_ but realized that she had turned around and already gotten halfway down the hallway. She turned back around on her bare heel to look at him, irritation subtly etched into her features. He smiled, hoping to see the look returned on her face.

It wasn't.

"Let me guess: you weren't paying attention to Cyborg," she accused, crossing her arms indignantly. Again, Beast Boy was mildly distracted by the shape of her forearms, and especially distracted by what crossing her arms was doing to other parts of her figure.

_WHOA, man, get a grip! She asked you a question, look at her face, GOD DAMN YOU HORMONES._

Beast Boy quickly looked up several degrees, hoping Raven hadn't noticed the gawking. She raised her eyebrows, eyes like fire-_shit, she noticed_- and the red gem on her forehead glittered dangerously in the light, like a drop of fresh blood.

_Ok, that's not a strange thing to think at all. She's got crystallized BLOOD on her forehead and her eyes are made of fire. Nice, man, real nice. _The green young man gulped despite himself, shook his head lightly then grinned widely back at Raven. He hoped his smile was placating.

"No, I was! I mean, sort of. I'm working with you, right?" He stretched his smile even more, trying to appeal to Raven. Suddenly he felt like his face was going to rip and relaxed a little, hoping an actual smile would look better. Raven lifted one eyebrow further and dropped her arms, then turned around, her violet hair spinning out. She started walking to her room, but didn't look back to see if he was following her. Beast Boy realized his footsteps were probably loud enough that she didn't need to.

_So much for the stealth of a jungle cat. _He thought, thinking back to something he'd bragged about to her in a (hopefully) flirtatious ramble not a week prior, before everything in the world went crazy.

"Yep," she finally answered as they reached her door. She opened it, then looked back at Beast Boy, who was relieved to see the angry look had left her eyes. As she walked into her bedroom, it took every iota of his pathetic male self control NOT to see how his pajamas fit on the bottom half of her person. _Chill man, they're just pajamas and you've already nearly been killed for stupid stuff like that today. _

"So, what's the plan?" He asked again, following her in. "Are we going to read stuff?" Beast Boy looked up at her vast bookshelf, praying that she'd forbid him from touching the books, "Look it up online?" He scanned the room for a moment, then finally turned his eyes from the floor to Raven, where she stood with a small pile of index cards in her hands. "Please tell me we aren't using magic to find this stuff," he continued, trying desperately to fill the silence "I always get into trouble when magic is involved." He went to stand by her, wondering about the index cards, twisting his fingers around one another to fight the urge to reach out and touch her face.

_Holy crap, dude, what the hell? Why can I not calm down? Just because she's in danger doesn't mean she's not RAVEN. She could kill me with her MIND! _He actually doubted this was true but for the sake of self preservation shoved his hands into the pockets of his uniform.

"Guess you're SOL then" She quipped in response to his plea against magic, the corner of her mouth lifting in a smirk. The look faded as she traded the pile of index cards in her hand for another set on one shelf of her bookcase.

"SOL?" He asked, feigning ignorance. He could see the creases around her eyes soften at that.

_Oh yeah, go Beast Boy, it's your birthday!_ If he could have done a victory dance, he would have.

"I know you know what that means," She retorted, putting both stacks of index cards into a box and running her fingers through her hair in the most blatant sign of stress Beast Boy had ever seen from Raven. His stomach dropped in worry for her- what kind of freak out was going on in her head?

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't," he taunted in a sing song voice, hoping to bring a small smile to her face. He could see, even from the side of her face, that she had rolled her eyes.

"Or maybe you just want to hear me say 'shit', like a 11 year old." She said dryly, turning to face him at last and resting her hip against the bookshelf.

He giggled to prove her right; they both smiled. Suddenly, as if she had an epiphany, Raven turned to face the shelves and reached high, nearly jumping to try to get a book. She couldn't reach and turned to Beast Boy, a grimace evident in the slightly downward turn of the corners of her mouth. She turned to him, pointing silently at a big book with a red cover.

_Why doesn't she just levitate? _He wondered, cocking his head in question at her. Her eyes stayed still and her grimace remained, so he reached up around her, stretching over her head to get the book. He realized in a microsecond that the way they were positioned: Raven was nearly pressed between his body and the bookshelf, her back flattened against the literature. Her face was turned up towards him, watching as he stretched his left arm above her. His right hand rested on the same shelf as her hands and her hips, both of them holding themselves steady. He looked down and saw her face was inches away from his as he pulled the book smoothly out of its resting place. His heart started going crazy and and his head spun. He swallowed thickly and leaned down towards her. He wanted to kiss her breathless so badly it was almost overwhelming.

_Ok, dude, be cool, be cool, think attractive. Be... be... be... SUAVE! Yeah, be suave, like in those cheesy romance movies she pretends to hate._

He slowly retracted his left arm and put the slim but tall book in the narrow gap between them for a moment. The gap was so small that his knuckles brushed her stomach. He was frozen until her pale hands pulled the book out of his hands. He stood up straight and took a half a step back, doing his best not to let his pride show in his face.

_Nailed it! _

He turned around to walk away and promptly tripped over his own size 13 feet.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the two sat at Raven's small study table. It was strewn with three notebooks, the scarlet book, Raven's laptop, and multiple writing utensils, one of which was a quill pen currently sitting under Raven's hand. She was scanning through the red book, giving Beast Boy little to do except watch her.

Watch her he did. She was always kind of amazing to observe; it was like his own little wildlife show but a trillion times more emgaging. The public in general was under the impression that Raven was cold and emotionless, no doubt a misconception encouraged by the press, whom Raven treated with a cool indifference. Beast Boy knew, from years of living with her, spending time with her, and trying to make her smile, that that was an utter and pathetic lie.

The Monks of Azar had trained Raven to remove her emotions as a child, so she could have complete control of her powers. It was to hinder Trigon, so he would have the smallest effect possible when he used her as a portal on her 16th birthday. After the Titans defeated and banished the worst dad in multiple universes, Raven's emotions could technically be allowed expression. She still relied on her control of her emotions to control her powers, however; she didn't know how else to do so. She'd explained all that after they'd reversed the apocalypse.

What wasn't the knowledge of the team was that Beast Boy had been training himself to recognize her facial indicators and body language: how she'd pull up her hood when nervous or sad, how she'd pull it down when she wanted to be heard. She'd grab her elbows when she was sad or worried, and cross her arms when frustrated. When she was feeling particularly emotional, she'd meditate. Usually on the roof if the issue was normal, but if she was really upset, she'd meditate down by the rocks at the base of the tower. Her eyes betrayed more than she ever realized, and though her expressions were more muted, they were similar to anyone else's. She'd grin hugely only around Cyborg; even Beast Boy had seen her "big smile" only once.

Right now, she was sitting across from him, her left hand propping her head up in a very human way over the book, the fingers of her right hand tapping very lightly over the feather pen she'd placed on the table. Her eyebrows were pulled just slightly down, and her mouth was tight. She was obviously upset; even Robin, a.k.a. Sir Dense-a-Lot, would have been able to see that.

He grabbed her right hand, throwing caution to the wind. He turned it over between his hands, seeing light bruises on her wrists. They had yellowed already, thanks to her quickly healing body. He turned it back over and pushed the cuff up her arm to the elbow; it had fallen despite being rolled. He winced upon seeing more bruises further up the sleeve, leaving her normally porcelain skin looking mottled.

She ripped her hand away from him abruptly. She unrolled the cuff of the sleeve then did the same to the other side. Despite fitting tightly across the torso, the sleeves were far too long for the petite young woman and her hands were hidden by green monkeys. Her violet eyes turned to him like ice, but he could tell it was fear more than anger behind the sudden storm.

_But still man, what did you expect? You don't touch Raven! That's the rule._

They sat in silence for an eternity, and then they heard Starfire replace Cyborg for her shift guarding the door.

Whereas Cyborg had been so quiet they'd forgotten he was there, Star either had Robin or Silkie with her because she was talking and giggling like crazy.

Then he heard the lower voice. Definitely Robin. The couple was talking about personal matters that made him gag.

Judging by the nauseated look on her face, Raven could hear the conversation being had outside the door as well as Beast Boy was. When the topic transitioned from flirty to dirty, Raven stood up, went to the door, and opened it just a crack. He turned to watch as Raven left and his curiosity had gotten the better of him; the pajama pants fit Raven like a glove. He tried to turn his eyes away but found it quite…difficult to do so, until Beast Boy heard the shriek as Starfire turned to see the other girl behind her. He could hear the chastising well enough and snickered behind a gloved hand.

"While I'm sure it's delightful to have some relatively free time together, could you please not discuss the sexual exploits the rest of the team already has a hard enough time ignoring within earshot of two of us while we research? Thank you." She closed the door and walked back to the table. "When I got out there and I was yelling at them and I could still feel lust coming from somebody, I nearly barfed," she told him drily, looking down at her book again.

She started taking notes on one of the pads of paper as she flipped through her red book. Beast Boy stared at nothingness for a while more, then decided that if Raven wouldn't GIVE him anything to do, he'd have to convince her but without talking- the first experience with duct tape all those years ago had made her opinion on his desire to talk endlessly quite clear.

He laid his head down on the desk and looked up at her, forcing his eyes open wide and his bottom lip out.

Within minutes, she cracked.

"Ok, what's with that face?" She asked, dropping her pen, crossing her arms, and leaning back in her seat in exasperation.

_Better make this good, BB._ For some reason, that thought sounded suspiciously like Cyborg.

"What? Is a boy not allowed to pout around here?" He asked, trying not to wince as possibly the stupidest thing he could have said tumbled out of his mouth.

"Not you" she answered, returning her gaze to her book, seeming particularly intent on one passage. She was biting at the inside of her bottom lip, if the way the skin below her lip was pulled taut was any indication.

"Huh? Why not?" He asked, hoping that if what she was reading was an unpleasant revelation, he would be able to keep her from being upset.

"Well, you aren't Timmy or Teether, for one, " she drawled, her eyes softening and lower lip released. He liked where this was going and decided to pursue a conversation about Raven's soft spot.

"Oh, those little dudes are so cute! And Melvin too, man. Isn't she almost 10?" He asked, despite knowing the answer himself. They'd seen the little rascals about a month before, and it had been his job to run around getting Timmy whatever he wanted to avoid damaging the lights, windows and et cetera with the world's worst tantrums. He grimaced at the memory but directed his attention to the girl sitting across from him.

"She'll be 11 in 2 months," Raven answered absently. Her eyebrows were furrowed as she flipped between a few pages in the scarlet book.

"Dude, they love you. You'd make a great mom, you know that?" He commented. The first part of his statement had been intentional, but the second had come out without a thought to any implications it may have had.

Raven's silence startled him, because he'd expected a scathing retort after the "mom" suggestion. Any time parenthood had ever come up in the past she'd vehemently declared she'd never be a parent. He looked at her and saw that her face was focused on nothing at all, as if she was trying to remember something, or figure it out.

"Rae?" The question was quiet, hopefully slightly apologetic-_Just in case-_and accompanied by Beast Boy reaching out his hand, yet again, to break the "Don't touch Raven" rule.

Still she remained silent, but now she looked like she was in pain.

"Raven?" He asked pleadingly. She was hunching over and breathing heavily, her hands folded so in her lap that her knuckles looked white as bone.

_Why won't you answer me, damn it!_

"Look, Raven, I didn't mean… Shit, are you crying?" He asked, terrified, hearing something that sounded like a sniffle. His mind started racing with worry and he got up and ran to crouch by her side. Raven didn't cry. That was even more true than Raven didn't laugh or Raven didn't give hugs. Hugs happened after crazy emotional stuff and a Raven laugh was a purer-and rarer-treasure than gold, but Raven didn't cry. Not when she was scared, not when she was angry, not when she was sad, never.

"No!" She whispered harshly, the way her voice caught on a sob betraying her denial. Her left hand flew to her mouth and her right hand rushed to wipe away any unwelcome tears.

"Hey it's ok-" He started, pulling her hands into his right hand and wrapping his left arm around her shoulder. She was cold to the touch and shivering, despite her warm pajamas, which covered way more skin than her normal leotard.

_Jesus Christ, I'm an idiot. I keep breaking the cardinal rule. I'm still alive though, that's a good sign. _Then, the stress of the moment encouraging mental ramblings, he mused _Cardinal is a cool word. It's a bird, but it also means something else. Like raven! It's a bird and a color and a girl._

"Beast Boy, please" She begged. She pulled her hands out of his but didn't shrug away. Instead, she curled her face into his chest, gripping his uniform like she had in her sleep that morning. While a small part of him was elated, he was seriously freaking out that this was happening. _Ok, what the hell do I do? Should I call Star in here or just keep holding her or what?_

He opted for the second, and pulled her tighter, then onto his knee and settled onto the ground. He crossed his legs and balanced Raven on his knee and was absurdly reminded of Santa. Suddenly, an image of himself with a long white beard entered his mind. There he sat, with a crying RAVEN in his lap, trying his best to be comforting, to not sound like an idiot, and to not react to his internal insanity. She started sobbing harder and he nearly stopped breathing, "Shhhh, hey, it's ok, everything is gonna be fine."

Raven started to relax, trying to regulate her breathing while the young man she'd curled into tried to do the same. He repeated to himself that he wasn't facing the end of the world again or anything.

_But Raven didn't even cry THEN! _He thought frantically, staring at the girl in his arms with intense concern.

"Beast Boy, I think.." She started, then bit down hard on her lower lip, her dark hair shaking around her head.

"Yeah?" He asked, trying to sound encouraging. Her dark violet eyes were shut tightly and it took all his willpower not to wrap her into his arms again but to let her sit up and speak.

_There you go again with the dog, commands, Garfield. Jesus Christ. _

"When they were.. When I was…" She shuddered. The tears had ended but the terror obviously hadn't. She gripped tighter to his uniform, her nails raking him even through the spandex. Her pale cheeks had spots on them, and the underneath of her eyebrows were pink. She shivered again then placed her forehead against his throat.

"Raven, breathe, please, you're ok, you're safe," He pleaded, pulling her tighter into his arms despite his earlier qualms, wanting the shaking to stop. His stomach had dropped, but not in the "Dude, what an awesome rollercoaster" way, but in the "Holy shit, how do I fix this NOW?" sort of way.

"No! I'm not! And neither is anyone else!" She shrieked, looking at him with terror plain on her features. Even now, her expressions were muted, but the emotions were evident. They still sat on the floor, his eyes trained on hers to try to discern what she meant. They were wide, and her frame seemed even more slight as she shrank into his chest further.

_You could always just ASK what happened, idiot._

"Raven, what do you mean? You're scaring me. Please, tell me what happened," he begged, trying to sound reassuring instead of frightened, though that probably didn't help much- she was an empath, she could tell what he was feeling even if his voice didn't betray it. Her fingernails felt like claws on his chest, but a very small, very stupid part of him was grateful he'd been following Robin's training regiment- he was way buffer now than he'd been 6 months ago. Raven opened her mouth to explain though, and every thought became trained on her.

"When I was at Chang's lab, they beat me up pretty badly," she started. He nodded, wincing as he thought of every bruise, gash, and bump he'd seen, even the ones normally covered by her leotard.

"Trust me, it's taken all my self control not to go to the city prison and rip open Chang's throat every time I've seen the bruises," he muttered darkly in response, biting down on his tongue to keep from continuing speaking out in anger at the thought.

"But that's not it, Garfield." Suddenly, he felt nauseous. The girl sitting in his lap looked green while he felt as though he was becoming pale. In an other situation, the bitingly ironic reversal would have been funny, but he was too upset to see the humor in it now.

_Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit. No. No. NO. FUCK NO._

"Rae… What did they do to you?" He asked, afraid to hear the answer. He needed control, but he also needed to know what had happened.

"They took pieces of my hair, bits of my skin, definitely some blood, and possibly other things." She whispered the last bit, as though afraid of the possibility. Beast Boy wasn't sure he knew what she meant, but had some suspicions. He asked, praying to whatever god there was that she'd banish those suspicions with what she was about to say.

"Other things?" He asked, throat thick and head swimming.

"You don't need sedation for most of the stuff they took," She had been heavily sedated, he remembered, so that was a little odd, "And most of Chang's fithy isolation rooms would have kept me contained with or without my magic." She spoke quickly, as though she was only having the thoughts for the first time herself.

"Raven, what do you think they took?" He asked, linking his hands behind her so his arms formed a circle around her. It was the only way he could keep himself from ripping out of the room or shaking her for a straight answer; if he hurt her, he'd never forgive himself.

"I don't know. But there are parts of my body that hurt that shouldn't hurt," she whimpered, leaning into his chest again. He soon felt the wet warmth of silent tears against his chest and every angry thought he'd ever had before couldn't compete with the rage pounding through him now.

"Oh, GOD, Rae, you don't think…" _they took advantage of you? _He couldn't finish the thought out loud or he may have cried, or thrown up (despite not having eaten for hours) or something else entirely. He realized now some of the things Star was able to do when she thought Robin was in trouble weren't just because of her Tamaranean heritage, but also her love for their "fearless leader". He would have ripped apart the planet right now if only to stop Raven's tears.

After a quiet moment of him reflecting on that and her thinking, the pale young woman shook her head, the action flooding Beast Boy with relief.

"What I think is… I think they looked inside me to see what sort of... reproductive system I've got." She said, as though choosing her words very quickly. The world began spinning and Beast Boy could think of nothing to say.

So of course, he reverted to a mild, brainless, expletive.

"Holy crap, Rae."

They sat for a moment in silence as Beast Boy pondered this. What sort of set up DID Raven have? She looked human, except for some different coloring and a few extra features, just like he did, and he had a... normal set of equipment. At that thought, the teen felt blood rush to his face. He hoped Raven couldn't see the blush in the dimly lit room.

"I think…" She started. She said nothing more for a long moment, and Beast Boy decided to speak.

"Rae, you're-" He started, with every intention of saying "just like me" but before he could, she cut him off, violet eyes flashing.

"NO! Beast Boy, even I don't know how I'm set up! It's not exactly a situation the monks prepared me for. They thought I would die at 16, remember?" She snapped, venom in her words being betrayed by the shakiness of her voice. Beast Boy sat for a moment before asking a question of vital importance.

"So what, exactly, do you think they're going to do?" He watched her face as she ruminated on this, saw as tiny flickers of emotions flitted across her features. She was frustrated, scared, confused, and determined.

_Determined not to be a pawn in whatever the hell is going on. Heh heh, a chess pun, she'd like that on a normal day._

"I don't know." She finally answered, sighing deeply. Raven looked up and met his gaze for a second, before unfolding her legs and standing up.

She held out a hand to Beast Boy, who took and stood up without actually relying on the girl. She was half his weight and only three quarters of his height; if he pulled on her hand any she would simpy have just spun back down into his arms where he was seated. Not, of course, that he was against that idea at all, but Raven-needs-a-cuddle-buddy time was over.

"But I have a feeling we won't like it." She finished. She walked to her closet and grabbed a leotard, a belt, and a cape.

She began changing right there, back to him, unbuttoning the shirt and dropping it to the floor. After a moment of shock in which Beast Boy gawked at the curvature of the girl- no, woman, girl wasn't accurate at ALL- then shut his eyes, wondering why Raven hadn't kicked him out or gone into her bathroom, since it was ATTACHED TO HER FREAKING BEDROOM.

_Think about golf. Golf is not sexy… or bacon: the disgusting slaughter of pigs. Or think of Mother Mae Eye! Yeah, nasty, weird, creepy old lady. _

Hazarding a guess that Raven was probably done changing, he cracked an eye open, then squeezed his eyes shut again. He wasn't sure whether to be apologetic for or relish his preemptive glance.

She had been pulling her leotard on but it wasn't quite high enough yet and Beast Boy now had an image of a very small, round, tight, pale rear end implanted on his eyelids.

_WHAT THE HELL, RAVEN! DO YOU NOT HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'RE DOING! _He yelled inside his mind, desperately imagining mathematics and New Fu in an attempt to remain calm and not allow his very active, hormone fueled imagination go crazy.

"Here, Beast Boy" she said, and he jumped and opened his eyes. She stood in front of him, face blank as if **that** hadn't just happened, holding out his pajamas for him.

"You keep 'em" He suggested, secretly hoping she'd wear them again in the future, "They look better on you." He grinned a wide grin at her, scratching absently at the back of his neck, and turned to the door.

"Let's go tell Robin what you figured out and get some food. I'm seriously hungry," he suggested, desperate to get out of this room before something even less normal happened.

She'd already cried and stripped in front of him today. He didn't think his heart, brain, or libido could take much more.

* * *

**_Ok, so that's that. I fixed what I could see needed to be fixed and I'm personally a lot happier with it. If you liked it better the first way... Too bad. It's essentially the same, just some syntax edits._**

**_Until I get pestered into the next chapter (JUST KIDDING!)_**

**_2-Shadows_**


	5. Uphill Battle

_**So, I'm more sorry that Bridget from Total Drama. Go look up her song "I'm Sorry" Because I'm even sorrier than that that I took so long. Further excuses at the end.**_

_**Not my property. I'm forever alone and need fictional characters to fill the void. Please don't sue me and take away the last reliable source of joy in my life. **_

_**Enjoy! 2_shadows**_

Uphill Battle

They walked down the hall, Raven gaining stride and looking more alive now that she was back in her uniform. Beast Boy struggled to keep up with her, amazed that even though he was taller than her now, he still had to half jog to keep up with her quick pace.

He shrank down into a crouch and turned into a tiger, more easily keeping stride with the dark girl who still had tear stains on her face. Her hand dropped to scratch behind his ears and despite himself, Beast Boy let out a deep rumbling purr. He looked up discreetly to see if she had noticed, but Raven's face remained stoic, as though she wasn't aware she was petting him. A plan formulated as they neared the door of the kitchen. Before she opened the door, Beast Boy quickly changed into a green lab.

"Wha-" Her question was cut short when he stood on his hind legs, paws on her shoulders, and licked her face like a lovesick puppy.

_Not too far from the truth_ he thought quietly, his human side buried deeper within him.

"Beast Boy, get… Ugh! Get OFF OF ME!" Her tiny fists beat at him, but he ignored them and licked her face until he was sure it was thoroughly slobbered. He then let her push him off, turning into a kitty to avoid getting yelled at- even Raven couldn't resist The Face. She glared at him then typed in her password to open the door.

_Damn, Cyborg really did amp up the security. Can't even get in the kitchen without a password. Where was I when this was announced? Oh, right, zoning out. _Had he been human, he would have grimaced. _I really gotta start paying attention to this stuff._

"Cyborg, where's Robin?" Raven asked, cape falling to rest behind her. She wiped her face off and glared at Beast Boy, noticing the green feline had followed her. He meowed, grateful he wasn't in human form- he would have been grinning for sure. _And dead in a heartbeat. _His mental grin widened.

"He went downtown, I think. Let me grab lunch and we can sit down and talk about it like normal human beings." Cyborg was standing behind the counter, piling a plate high with left-overs he was pulling out of the fridge. He turned to shoot the two Titans a grin, but upon seeing their lack of reaction got back to his lunch without missing a beat. Seeing it was a plate piled high with various forms of meat, Beast Boy changed shape ready to berate him, until he saw the warning glare shot over the shoulder of a still slightly slobbery individual. She tilted her head toward the door, indicating she did not want him to continue following her around.

He rolled his eyes. _As if you're getting rid of me that easily, especially now that I know you need me. _He thought, wondering if she had yet realized that he had been cleaning her face of tear stains. She might have been acting like she had it together, but Raven usually had all of her bases covered, including hiding all proof of emotions. She rolled her own eyes in return and turned on her heel to walk to the couch, slumping into a seat for a moment before sitting up.

He felt himself follow dutifully.

After his food was done in the microwave, Cyborg sat down on the couch next to Raven, farther away from Beast Boy, who was on her other side. The green teen didn't mind; this way, he didn't have to smell his friend's revolting meal. It was always worst when he recognized what type of animal Cyborg was eating by smell.

"How ya doin', Rae?" the cybernetic young man asked earnestly, taking an enormous bite out of a dead pig smothered in barbeque sauce. Beast Boy could feel his stomach rolling, but bit his tongue, wondering how Raven would answer.

"Doesn't matter. What's important is that I think I know what Chang was looking for. I need to know everything you guys dug up on his equipment, henchmen, everything," the dark girl explained, her words running together in a manner unlike Raven's usual speech. She then looked at Cyborg's plate, picked a hamburger off of it and immediately took a huge bite.

Cyborg leaned over to shoot a questioning glance at Beast Boy, who shrugged. Feigning indifference, Beast Boy tugged at the hair that was starting to hang in front of his eyes to avoid looking at Raven's meal. In all seriousness, he needed to cut it. Otherwise, the next time he turned into something really furry he wasn't going to be able to move-

Oops, his fake distraction had turned into a real one.

_Shit, dude, pay attention_

"-and then he wanted to go to city hall to see if there were any other reports of strange activity in the past few days." Cyborg finished. Beast Boy hadn't zoned out too long; he tuned back in and tried to ignore that Raven was still eating a hamburger.

_She's eaten hamburgers in front of you before, Gar, what's so wrong with this? _

"So, what do you think Chang was after, anyways?" Cy asked, slurping some soda down to rinse away his lunch. Raven looked up at him, face blank but calculating, as though she were trying to formulate her words.

"I'm fairly certain I underwent numerous tests to ascertain the structure and viability of my reproductive organs." She answered. Beast Boy saw the corners of her mouth tighten. He thought her words through in his head and felt his heart drop into his stomach when he finally realized the meaning- and implications- of those words.

"Holy…" Cy whispered, giving a voice to Beast Boy's own thoughts. "We need to tell Robin as soon as he gets home."

Suddenly, Beast Boy's neck began to prickle. He felt as though every instinct he had was warning him something bad was about to happen. He opened his mouth to warn Raven, but all he heard was the twinkling sound of exploding glass. In streamed several lines of Chang's goons, their huge white suits and glowing red eyes contrasting with the bright blue skyline shining in behind them through the shattered windows.

_How did they get up here? _He wondered, leaping into action, ripping into the nearest henchman with tiger's claws. He twisted to bat another white clad creep's head into the first one, hoping to knock them both out.

"OH HELL NO!" Cyborg yelled, seeing the beeline one of the goons was making toward Raven. "Yo, STAR! We could use some help, please!" He screeched into the communicator on his arm. He then quickly changed it into a sonic cannon and swept an entire row of henchmen onto their butts. Beast Boy absently noticed the sounds of Cy's plate breaking and the rest of his soda spilling across the floor.

"My apologies, but I'm currently fighting some of Slade's robots and cannot assist you." Starfire's voice screeched through the communicators. Sladebots too?

_Shit, shit, shit, shit._

"Shit." The voice was so quiet that Beast Boy couldn't be sure the word didn't come out of his own mouth. He was taking a running start as a cheetah, then flipped into the air as a chimp and landed on easily 15 of the Hazmat suited morons as a stegosaurus. Content that he had knocked them out, he changed into wolf before he got in the way of Cyborg's shots at some of the goons still trailing in.

_Where are they all coming from?!_

"Raven, are you ok?" Beast Boy yelled, turning to look for her. She still sat on the couch, whiter than he had ever seen, frozen in place. He decided to leave Cyborg to finish off Chang's men, taking a step towards her-

That was when all hell broke loose.

Hundreds more figures burst through the remaining windows, Sladebots and Henchmen alike. Huge white flashes started going off in Beast Boy's peripheral vision. He warned himself not to try to find to source to avoid being blinded but was caught by surprise by a bright flash right in front of his face.

Changing into a bat to avoid being blinded and dazed, Beast Boy flew and starting biting at whatever he could find. Then a huge boom echoed throughout the room, knocking the bat out of the air.

Silence? _Why is it so quiet?_ The small bat wondered as it fell.

Then the bat's blindness turned into total darkness.

* * *

_Thud_

_Thud_

_Thud_

_Beast Boy! BB, get up! Please man, get up! _Cyborg was rushing to him, human eye wide and frantic "Whoa," Beast Boy said, sitting up, head spinning. He tried to stand up and nearly fell over, grabbing his friend's arm. "Dude, nothing sounds right and gravity's broken." He said, falling naturally into stupid humor despite how sick with anxiety he felt. There was no way they could have won that fight. But if they didn't win that fight…

"RAVEN! WHERE'S RAVEN!?" He shouted, hardly hearing it despite feeling the ache in his throat to indicate he had screamed.

_No, man, she's gone. They got her. _Even through the weird filter he was hearing, Beast Boy could hear the tightness of threatening tears in Cyborg's voice. _They took Raven again and we couldn't stop them. And I don't know where the hell Robin is or how Starfire's doing. She could be seriously hurt from that fight. I know I am. _ Beast Boy looked up at his friend, too tired and dejected to be embarrassed by the bitter tears welling up in his own eyes.

"Well then I'd guess we'd better get some meds in us and find out, huh?" He swallowed, feeling the pain in his throat, his ears, and just about every muscle in his body.

Cyborg could offer him nothing but a tight smile.

**_Ok, so reasons I didn't post, in Chronological order:_**

**_School_**

**_Writer's block_**

**_Grandpa's death_**

**_Great Grandmother's death_**

**_Writer's block_**

**_College Applications_**

**_My dog's death_**

**_It's been an awful past two months. But look! I managed to get something out. Thank (or blame) Boomerang. I turned it on to see the fight scene from Titans Together. And then came this._**

**_Also, I'm sorry it's so short, but this chapter needed to end here for the next two to work._**

Forgive me?


	6. The Love of the Changeling

_**I promised myself that I'd make up the unexpeced hiatus to you guys before the year is new, so here's another chapter. **_

_**I don't own any of them, blah blah blah. Don't we all know this by know?**_

_**Enjoy!**_

_**2_shadows**_

* * *

The Love of the Changeling

"Starfire!" Beast Boy yelled, coughing from the plaster he'd stirred up by throwing that chunk of plaster out of his way.

_Starfire, where are you?_ Beast Boy wondered, feeling sick to his stomach. The sooner they found and healed Starfire, the sooner they could go save Raven. Cyborg had gotten ahold of Robin-he was on his way home- and started repairs for himself; Beast Boy didn't feel the need to heal anything past his hearing, but Cyborg had given him some weird medicine that was thick and blue and had no taste he could recognize.

"BB, how's the equalizer working?" came a voice from the doorway- Cyborg was standing at the door, plugged into the wall to repair himself.

_Oh, that's what it's called…_

"Like magic," he answered, taking note of how flat his tone was.

"That's because it is. Raven helped me develop that formula to speed up the healing of injuries-" Cyborg paused and swallowed audibly "- in case she ever wasn't around when we needed her."

"So she's taking care of us even when she's out getting killed." Beast Boy spat. He had neither the energy nor the inclination to crack any jokes at this point.

Cyborg had known him for years, though and knew what to say to appease the emerald colored teenager. "Beast Boy, we're going to find her. We're going to save her. And we're going to kick Slade and Professor Chang's asses before locking them away for a long time," There was a bitter grin on his face as he added "If I were you, I'd kick them while in rhinoceros or elephant form."

He nodded, turning into a mountain goat to climb over an enormous pile of rubble in front of him. He heard a small groan and scrambled down the other side, seeing a streak of red hair.

"Starfire!" He yelped. Her green eyes opened and he quickly went to stand by her side. "How hurt are you?" He asked, noting that although she was pinned down by some rubble, it shouldn't have been enough to prevent her from digging her way out, especially given her natural strength.

"I am conscious but I fear I may have a minor fracture in my right arm and one in my left leg. I am unable to move myself, and while I am not being harmed by the debris on me right now, I would very much like to find a more comfortable position." Starfire was putting on a brave face, but Beast Boy could see the tear stains at the corner of her eyes as well as hear the grating of her teeth when he lifted the pole that had been pinning her down. After moving the junk, Beast Boy could see a growing green and orange bruise over her left tibia –_Tamaranean, remember?_ He thought- and the way her arm was bent wasn't possible even for an alien. Feeling slightly queasy at the strange position her arm was in, he called Cyborg over to scan her wounds before picking her up.

The cybernetic young man carefully picked his way around the pile then scanned Starfire's entire body for signs of bone damage. "Definitely a bad break for your arm, but your leg looks worse than it is. At least your leg is a clean break though. Your arm has a few weird cracks that are going to have to be set. It'll hurt, Star." Cyborg said, slipping right into his role as official medical practitioner. He turned his attention to Beast Boy, "I have to set it before I can give her any of the equalizer or it could heal wrong." His explanation was less than calming, though.

_That should be Raven, not some medicinal substitute._ Beast Boy had to bite his lip hard to avoid saying anything. He knew they had to wait for an approval before going after her, and the tension behind his sternum was growing. Suddenly, a tinny noise started coming from three different sources.

"I was almost back to the tower, but Control Freak is out terrorizing a movie theater. I'm going to go after him quickly, throw his sorry ass in jail, you know the drill. While I'm dealing with this, tie up any loose ends at home and we can strategize when I get back. Shouldn't take long." Robin's long stream of information played out of all of their communicators before the tone let them know he'd switched his into battle mode, making it impossible to reach him.

_Impossible to reach him and tell him to let the Tubby Lumpkins just fizzle out. All it'll take is another poor girl working the ticket booth turning him down. Why go after Control Freak right now? We have priorities!_

"Cyborg, I need to go." Beast Boy said, trying to keep his voice level, not sure whether he was hiding panic or just impatience. Based on the difficulty he was starting to have with keeping his breathing regular, it was the former. "If I don't go after her soon, I'm going to lose it."

"Not right now, B. You're still at least 3 shades paler than you should be and you haven't eaten in hours." Cyborg said, not truly directing his attention away from the injured girl on the ground. "You'll do more harm than good if you try to go after her right now." Cyborg directed his words to Starfire, "Ok, Star. This is going to hurt like hell, but I need you to stay calm." He picked up her arm with more gentleness than one would expect from a man made out of mostly metal and careful twisted her arm into its proper place.

_Holy crap, it was that broken?_

"AGGGHHHHHH!" She screamed, -_Yep. Hot damn!- _the evident extent of her pain setting Beast Boy's blood on end. Then her scream ended and she was breathing heavily, wincing and holding back tears. She turned her moist green eyes to Cyborg, a pitiful smile on her face. "Many thanks, my friend, for seeing to it that I heal correctly."

"I'm so sorry, Star. The good news is that it's over." Cyborg said, standing up. "Green Bean, I need you to pick her up and carry her to the infirmary." Beast Boy turned his attention back to Cy, a question clear on his face. Cyborg sighed. "I'm cold. She just had her arm broken twice; she needs the body heat from you. I don't want to risk her going into shock." Beast Boy nodded, still not finding any words for his friend.

He turned to pick Starfire up, staying in human form since he was large enough to carry her now. There, carrying the hurt Titan girl in his arms, he realized something.

"Cy, I did it on my own last time." Beast Boy announced, shifting Starfire so her arm was lying across her chest and she could cradle it with the other. His cybernetic friend looked at him, his human eyebrow tilted in confusion. "I rescued Raven on my own last time. You guys came and kicked ass after I was done, but I rescued her and got her home." He clarified, feeling a surge of pride and hope course through his veins.

_I don't have to wait for Robin. I can go get her before Slade has time to hurt her._

"You found her on your own last time when you were healthy, well rested, and had the element of surprise on your side. You're a talented kid, BB, but if you want to do what's best for Raven, you'll wait until you can rescue her properly. They're going to expect us this time." Cyborg admonished, standing up completely straight, making even Beast Boy's current 6 feet seem diminutive. It wasn't a threat in words, but Beast Boy could feel the animals in him bristling at the subconscious challenge Cyborg was presenting. He quelled the instinct to fight back and instead forced a small smile and turned to take Starfire to the infirmary.

As he was finding his way around the last pile of rubble, the girl in his arms spoke. "I understand, Beast Boy. If it was Robin, I would be quite anxious to go even in ill health as well." She gave him a small, sympathetic smile, before curling into his chest to try to hide her wince of pain.

"Thanks, Star." He whispered, returning the smile. "Now let's get you healed up."

* * *

By the time Robin got home half an hour later, Beast Boy had eaten a bowl of miso soup, wrapped Starfire's arm and given her a dose of the magically endued medicine, bandaged a cut on his own face, checked the outside of the Tower for clues, checked the news four times and had 2 sodas and a cup of tea. While he was searching for clues, he figured out that the Sladebots and Chang's men had flown in by helicopter (based on the debris pattern on the roof) then Chang's men had rappelled down ropes to break through the windows while the Sladebots came in through the main doors after using a laser to cut through the lock.

Cyborg had suggested the tea after he found Beast Boy pacing in front of the news; apparently, he needed to calm down.

Of course, the only tea in the house was Raven's. Brewing it had sent him into a whole new bout of anxiety that was quieted only once Robin walked through the decimated doorway of the Tower. Unable to hold still for even a moment, Beast Boy informed him of everything he could think of as they walked together to the infirmary.

"Robin, Chang's men and the Sladebots landed on the roof. The Sladebots entered through the main doorway- I'm sure you saw the laser damage- and Chang's men broke through the main room's windows, which are now completely shattered. Starfire broke her left leg- clean break- and her right arm- not so clean break taking on the Sladebots, but Cyborg set it and it's been splinted and wrapped and she's been given some kick-ass medicine. Cyborg has sandwiches if you're hungry, and-" here he paused to take a gulp of the tea from the thermos gripped in his hand "- I think we should be able to track Raven's whereabouts based on the locator on her belt. I'd have already done it but Cyborg wouldn't let me near the computer."

By this point, they had reached the infirmary, and Cyborg looked up from the cast he was plastering onto Starfire's leg, having heard at least part of Beast Boy's veritable monologue. "Geez, Grass Stain, that's the most you've said all day." He then turned his attention to Robin. "Sandwich is sitting on the computer. Started up the tracking software but I don't know the password for tracking the other Titans."

These words, it appeared, went in one ear and out the other. Suddenly, Beast Boy understood why it had been said of him his entire life; Robin had been listening but paid no heed to anything they said. Rather, he was kneeling by Starfire in a heartbeat, pushing her hair out of her face. "Starfire! What happened to you!?"

_Jeez, this isn't a soap opera! And I just told you, dumbass._

Cyborg caught the look on Beast Boy's face and shook his head, silently suggesting that they wait for Robin to finish his conversation with Starfire.

"Sladebots," she answered grimly. Then her eyes widened and she continued, "but do not fear for me, for it is Raven who is in danger. We must go to her immediately!"

Robin turned to the two other young men in the room, a fire blazing behind his eyes evident even through his mask. Beast Boy thought he was going to get into their faces until he realized Robin refused to let Starfire's hand go. "Were either of you there when she was fighting the Sladebots?" They exchanged glances and shook their heads. Before either could say a word about Chang, he started to yell. "Well, why the hell not? She had a broken leg and a broken arm. How far was she from a broken neck?! Where were the two of you?"

Beast Boy's blood boiled in an instant and then he found that he was yelling as well, without a single thought for what he was going to say or its consequences.

"Excuse me? We were fighting off Chang's henchmen, which you'd know if you listened to a damn word I just told you! And since you didn't listen to that, I'm assuming you also seemed to have missed the fact that Raven is GONE. She got kidnapped!" He gestured to the girl on the hospital bed "Starfire is right here, with everything she needs to heal. Raven is out God knows where having God knows what sadistic procedure performed on her and you're here, wasting time. Do you know that we could have left the second you got home? Starfire is safe down here, and I'm waiting for the damn order to go and make sure Raven is too! "

"Don't you start mouthing off to me, I was fighting Control Freak on my own-"

Cyborg broke in, apparently as furious as Beast Boy felt, "Fuck Control Freak! He's a coach potato with a supped up remote! He gets discouraged when we don't show up to fight him and he goes home! Slade doesn't work that way, you know that." Cyborg paused, shaking his head, "Of anyone, you know the way he works."

"So now it's my fault because it's Slade?" Robin accused, finally stepping away from Starfire. He walked up to Beast Boy and poked him tauntingly in the chest. "I've worked more hours trying to protect us all-"

A gloved fist slamming into Robin's face shut him up. Beast Boy was losing control at this point, but he had one last thing to say. "It's your fault because Starfire is right here and safe and you're more worried about her than our missing teammate. The girl you love may be hurt but I don't even know if the girl I love is _still alive. _I'm done waiting for your say so, I'm going to save Raven with or without you."

A cold metal hand caught his shoulder as he turned to leave. "No. Beast Boy, we already talked about this. We need to go as a TEAM. That's the only way this is going to work." Cyborg turned to look at Robin though, and the cold look on his face chilled Beast Boy's blood. "If you think I give a damn about what happened in the past, you're sorely mistaken. Hell, I don't care about 5 minutes ago anymore than I do about 2 years ago." He shook his head and sighed. "It used to be that you were too wrapped up in the idea of fighting villains to admit to anyone how you felt about Star-"

_Good GOD, get on with it. Every second we waste talking is another punch, or kick, or- _Beast Boy pushed away that train of thought and listened to Cy's words, hoping that the lecture would be over soon.

"- too obsessed with the fact that she's hurt to care that Raven is missing. And it's not like last time, guessing where she was. We know who took her and with any luck we know where she is."

"I DO care that Raven is missing, but-" Robin started, looking thoroughly scolded and concerned.

"But nothing. I'm not losing my little sister because your spikey head is all wrapped up in what already happened." Cyborg snapped. Beast Boy could have cheered. Robin turned to the computer, stuffing his sandwich into his mouth with one hand while the other typed in a long string of letters and numbers on the computer.

"No dice. They must have figured out she had the locator and tossed it into the ocean, because that's where my readings are coming from. We're going to leave in 15 minutes to Slade's headquarters. If she isn't there, then we'll go after Professor Chang." Robin said around his food, the authority returning to his voice despite the several swallows he had to take to finish his meal. Beast Boy shook his head though, feeling uneasy about the declaration.

"No, we need to go to Chang's first, and we need to go now. Actually, we need to go 5 minutes ago." He insisted, opening the door and making his way out yet again.

"Look, Beast Boy, I get that you're worried about her, but try to think about this logically. Slade's the one going after her, so she'll probably be at his headquarters." Robin said, turning around and crossing his arms across his chest. "I know you two are close but the facts don't lie. Instinct is a fickle friend and dangerous enemy."

"Close?" Beast Boy laughed bitterly. "Didn't you hear me earlier?"

_I love her. I love her I love her I loveherIloveherHolyshitIlove Raven. _In any other situation he would have either screamed it out on the rooftops or gone to counseling, but right now he just needed to find her.

"Yeah, you said you love her. But so do I, so does Cyborg. Which is why we're going to do what's best for her and go about this intelligently." Robin responded, placing a hand on Beast Boy's shoulder.

_Not the same way._

Beast Boy turned a pleading glance in Cyborg's direction, but instead of being supported in his request, Cyborg just looked at Beast Boy like he was a particularly confusing string of binary.

"Twelve minutes until we leave for Slade's." Robin barked, turning around and ending the conversation. Beast Boy nodded and walked out the door.

"Yep. I'm going to go wait on the roof." He returned, not caring if they heard him; it was a lie anyways.

_Yeah, that's not happening. _He thought, heading for the roof. He got there, and looking around at all the signs of invasion, changed into a falcon._ I'll meet you at Chang's. _The falcon flew into the deceptively cheerful blue sky, headed towards a seedy area known as the docks, knowing where he'd find Chang- and where he'd find Raven. With the tiniest bit of dark humor he thought Raven would have appreciated if she could hear, he thought, _It shouldn't be too hard to find me._

_I'll be the green one with the injured girl in his arms. _

* * *

**_With any luck, I should have chapter 7 out by Saturday. I'm not a particularly lucky person though. BUT if it isn't out by two weeks from today, (12/23) You can start messaging me obnoxious accusations._**

**_Good luck to all you poor suckers with finals this week. Get off of Fanfiction and study!_**

**_Reviews are love!_**

**_2_shadows_**


End file.
